Category Archives: Ashley Grace’s Corner and The Chick Project…

Last week, I signed up to run The Good Life Halfsy. My favorite farmer thinks that I am crazy and my favorite blonde cowgirls are claiming that my mental status has been in question for years; but there are a variety of things compelling me to complete my first half marathon.

The first, and most important, is that Ashley Grace asked me to do it with her. My favorite brunette begins her senior year in high school this fall, and I am incredibly excited to be able to share this experience with her. While we will not really run it together (she will cross the finish line well ahead of me), it is a mother/daughter bucket list item.

Apart from a few 5k races completed recently as a fitness building tool with my family or the Haymaker Cross Country team, I have not competed in a running event since high school. The six minute miles that I used to kick out on the XC course provide an interesting history, but little relevance to the race in late October. Much has changed over the last twenty-four years 😉

The second reason that I hit the “go button”on the registration form is simplythat I can. For the first time in 13 years, I am physically strong enough to finish the race. To be completely honest, this race is a mental (as well as physical) stretch for me. However, I believe that it is a symbolic event as I celebrate a level of health and fitness that, during my years with active Graves Disease, I worried I would never again attain.

But, there is an awesome sweet spot to find as you pack your FAITH along the healing process. I’m hopeful that sweet spot will make a strong appearance the morning of the race as my main goal is to complete the half marathon with a smile on my face and peace in my heart.

I hope to have many great moments over the next five months as I train and prepare for the race; but what I most look forward to is seeing the pride in my daughter’s eyes as she hugs me on the finish line.

One of the reasons that Life’s About Never Giving Up is because there are so many awesome things to do as we live it 🙂

The Feed Yard Foodie family entered the realm of Chicken 201 this spring as we started our second flock of Rhode Island Red laying hens. After four years, the first flock suffered “laying fatigue” so it was time to replenish with young birds. The plan was to start all six chicks at once — After a cat defugalty, we ended up with two sets of three birds each about 3 weeks apart in age.

The first set of three grew too big for the horse water tank that we start the chicks in, so we spent some time Easter afternoon preparing the coop and moving the larger hens out of the chicken crib and into the big kid house…The smaller set will remain in the chicken crib for a few more weeks while they grow and become better able to keep themselves warm.

My favorite farmer has been fighting a nasty fever virus, but he cowboyed up and helped to fix a few things in the run. He seems to be pretty susceptible to the requests of his girls 😉 One of the things that I like most about the chicks is the projects that they make for Matt and the girls to do together. While on a smaller scale, they are similar to the cattle handling projects that the girls and I share.

Ashley Grace is currently teaching the hens how to leave and re-enter the coop so that they can enjoy the sun, food and water that we put out in the run. It is highly entertaining! We are looking forward to having a constant supply of eggs again.

Grandma spent the Easter weekend visiting from Florida. She got to play farmer a bit between the cattle at the pasture and the chick project at home.

My favorite brunette entered the world in the year AF3 (year 3 of working at the feed yard). She arrived three weeks early after a complicated pregnancy that wreaked havoc on our normal fall cattle processing chores. She came out screaming, and her birth (albeit a loud one) created one of the most beautiful moments of my life.

I have spent the last 17 years watching her find her voice. From the first melodious baby sounds, to words, to sentences, and finally the mature and engaging insight (laced with a tad of sarcasm) that she routinely shares today. Last week, my favorite speech loving Haymaker spent three days in Cheyenne, WY at the National Forensics League Regional Qualifier competition.

She emerged a victor earning herself the right to compete this summer in Birmingham, AL at the National Finals in the International Extemporaneous speaking event. This event involves drawing a topic, spending the next 60 minutes writing a speech addressing it, and then delivering a 7 minute oratory to judges. The really talented kids give a poised, on topic speech complete with quoted sources to back up their argument — all without a note card…

It’s nothing short of awesome!

One day it occurred to me that perhaps Ashley Grace and I found our voices together. As she grasped the English language and developed a knack for writing an engaging and organized speech, I opened my life outside of our family and our farm to help agriculture find its voice. The art of public speaking and sharing the story of bovine feed yard life does not normally appear together in a feed yard manager’s skill set…But I found my niche as I found my voice.

In 2017, the need for eloquent and honest farmer voices grows exponentially as social media tops the list of “sources” for the discussion of healthy and responsibly raised food. We need our farm kids to learn the art of finding their voices just as we need them to learn the science that will allow agriculture to prosper on into the future. This unique combination of skills could well determine the stability and sustainability of our country’s food supply in addition to opening or closing the gate on many farmers’ individual agricultural journeys.

Monday I will make my way to Lincoln to be a guest lecturer at the University of Nebraska. The goal of my lecture is to engage and inspire the next generation of farmers to effectively find their voices while they responsibly grow food. I am the first non-PhD to lead this particular yearly guest lecture on UNL’s agricultural campus — A sign of the growing importance of mentoring outside of the classroom in order to offer a more complex and multifaceted approach to education.

Just as I believe in the power of the next generation, I also believe that it will require the joining of the boots on the ground with the more traditional science background to prepare our future agricultural leaders. I am very proud to be able to play a role in that.

Unlike my favorite brunette, I will head to Lincoln with a pre-organized plan and a power point presentation. However, I share her love of extemporaneous speaking which provides me with an incredibly useful tool when leading an intellectual discussion with a lecture hall full of gifted students.

My mom always taught me the importance of becoming adept at expressing my thoughts and ideas — I guess the apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree 😉

Tuesday, I put 42 years on the books. My daughters, led by my favorite brunette, gave me a really awesome birthday gift. It warmed my heart and was so perfect that I decided that I needed to share it with each of you.

Image credit: Katie Arndt Photography

I woke up to find a written list entitled: 42 Reasons We Love You…

You push us to be our best selves.

You always support us in following our dreams — even when they inconvenience you.

What you see is what you get.

You do everything with your whole heart.

You don’t hide the way that you feel.

You’re confident in your own skin.

You can still beat most of the high school boys in a push-up contest.

You donate so much of your time to your community and those you love.

You make us sing the wrong words to songs.

You always have a goal,

And you work hard to achieve it.

You always see things through to the end.

You’re a glass half-full kind of gal.

Your not afraid to own the room,

And you command it so well.

You’re not ostentatious,

You quietly find a way to show your talents.

You uphold your values and beliefs in everything that you do.

You taught us that “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll always fall for anything.”

You’re a planner,

But when you don’t have one, you fake it well.

You treat everyone with respect, no matter their age, gender, beliefs, or intelligence.

You taught us that God made everyone different, and that’s a good thing.

You’ve encouraged us to leave home and see the world,

Plus you’re paying for us to do it!

You’ve shown that holding a grudge will only wear you down,

And that forgiveness lightens the heart.

Because of you, we know that good is the enemy of great.

We’ve seen your incredible work ethic throughout the years and been inspired by it.

You are an example of how to live and love life to the fullest.

You embrace PDA and let us know that true love only grows.

You’re not afraid to be a little goofy,

And you put up with Dad being more than a little goofy.

You tell us to Pack Our FAITH,

And constantly encourage us to look for God in our lives.

You appreciate the natural beauty of the world.

On that note, you allow our house to be in its natural state of lived-in messy.

You take our fashion advice with little complaint (and sometimes even ask for it!)

You don’t know what swag, lit, or OG mean, but you still manage to be the coolest person in the world.

My favorite 16 year old brunette traded her basketball shoes for high heels this winter when she became a member of the 2016 Haymaker Speech Team. Her long-time dream of attending an Ivy League college combined with the intellectual nature that she inherited from her mildly nerdy parents led her to the path of public speaking. She began the season as a novice participator and ended it as a varsity competitor at the Nebraska Class B State Meet on Wednesday.

Ashley Grace qualified for state in the Extemporaneous Speaking category. An incredibly unique event, Extemporaneous Speaking involves drawing a topic from a large pool of both global and domestic current events to create a 5-7 minute speech citing specific news resources to support the oratory content. Each competitor has 1 hour to write and prepare the speech before presenting it to a judge/judges. Every meet involves the entrants competing in 2-3 rounds (2 preliminary, 1 final) drawing different topics for each round.

I have to admit that I nudged my favorite brunette toward this topic because I recognized the invaluable life skills that it would help her to develop. Learning to intelligently convey your thoughts in an effective, organized, and interesting manner ranks at the top of Anne’s list of life skills. Being able to do it publically in front of a judge, under the pressure of time constraints, is nothing short of awesome. I watched my daughter evolve from a nervous and unconfident competitor to a poised, thought provoking, and eloquent speaker over the span of four months.

While the season far surpassed any expectation that I had as a parent, it ended in a sea of frustration for my daughter. After winning the first round at the state meet, she delivered what I believed to be the best speech of her career in the 2nd round. Her seven minute oratory on necessary changes within the Republican Party leadership in order to rein in fringe candidates was clever, organized, and beautifully presented. Unfortunately, the judge did not agree with her interpretation of the topic question and, as a result, scored her so harshly that she fell short of qualifying for finals.

The experience provided an interesting lesson in perspective…

One could argue that a differing personal interpretation of an open ended question should not result in such a punitive score reduction. This action ultimately denied her an opportunity to compete in the finals, but I think that perhaps the lesson is much larger than placing at the Nebraska State Speech meet. The lesson did not appear in the lost medal; rather, it originated in the season long acquisition of a valuable public speaking skill and culminated in the realization that the same words on a paper can mean different things to different people.

It is hard for many of us to recognize that perspective colors interpretation; but that is a reality. Neither the judge nor my daughter were wrong on Wednesday, they simply interpreted words differently as a result of having unique perspectives. I cannot begin to count the times in my ag-vocating journey where this has occurred. Perhaps one of my most valuable acquiredlife skills came from the realization that the blending of eclectic perspectives leads to learning and personal growth. The first step in this process is accepting that words and views can be meaningfully interpreted from multiple angles.

I am incredibly proud of Ashley Grace – the poise that she displayed this week as well as the hard work that went into her public speaking transformation warms my heart. While it may take a few days for her to let go of the disappointment of the lost medal, I am confident that she will ultimately realize that that the true prize exists in a broadened perspective and the maturity that comes from being able to look at the world from a variety of angles.

My favorite farmer fervently wishes that the leaders of our National Republican Party could have listened to the words of her speech – perhaps then our country would be able to climb out of its current political quagmire 😉

This Thoughtful Thursday I give a special “shout out” to my daughters for their outstanding care to our laying hens, and to my favorite farmer for the nutrient filled alfalfa dehy that we mix with the chickens’ regular feed. Rhode Island Reds give an average of 220 to 280 eggs per year — that equals approximately 0.6-0.8 eggs per hen per day — with the winter months being the least productive due to cold temperatures and short days.

Ashley Grace’s chickens produced at a rate of 1.08 eggs per hen per day during the month of November and the first week of December.

Last week we celebrated Veteran’s Day. My oldest two daughters each wrote winning essays honoring those who have served our country. I share them both with you all today as I believe that the writings show clearly the personalities of my girls…

I appreciate America’s veterans because without them we would not be the country we are today. All of the men and women that serve our country must have a tremendous amount of faith, courage, determination, and love for their country. To leave your family behind and go out on the battle ﬁeld, whether it is on the seas, in the air, or on the ground, is amazingly brave.

Our veterans do so much to help make our lives better. Without them, we might still be under the control of Great Britain; or still be enslaving blacks in the southern United States; or be controlled by the Nazi Party! Most of the luxuries that we take for granted are because of those who are or were ﬁghting to defend our rights.

The men and women who wear our colors are special to me because my great-grandma had to share my great-grandpa with our country and have faith that he would come home. My great- grandpa served as a Navy ofﬁcer on the submarine Peter Greenling during World War II. It was hit twice by underwater missiles from Japanese Bombers. Both times when the ship was hit they had to return to harbor for repairs.

While serving, my great-grandfather faced challenges that he turned into opportunities. Bird- watching, astrology, and walking were three later in life hobbies that came from these challenges. He ﬁrst developed a love for bird watching as the night watch on the Peter Greenling, when he had to be able to tell wether the objects above were seagulls or Japanese Bombers. He also used the stars to guide the submarine, because he was THE navigational ofﬁcer on board, and number two in command. My great-grandpa developed a love for walking and running, because he was in such cramped quarters on the submarine.

Changing challenges into opportunities is something that makes veterans special. Seeing the troubles of the world can change the way you look at things. Instead of looking at things as bad experiences, looking at them with a positive attitude can make you a better person. I wish I had more time to get to know my great-grandpa because he was a wonderful, joyous, and exciting person. Having a positive outlook on the world and people living here; even though we have our ﬂaws; makes our country stronger as a whole.

Close your eyes. Imagine a world where a group of people live in fear of persecution. Picture a land that doesn’t believe in freedom of mind. Think of a place that exercises oppression, and complete control by government. Now open them. We are lucky enough not to live like this because of the bravery of the veterans who have defended our country throughout the years. Veterans are important to our nation because of the lessons and values they taught and defended in the past, the role they play in our present, and the insight they can provide for our future.

History is often dismissed by students as “unimportant” because it has already happened. But what if it hadn’t happened? What if the past did not play out the way it did? What if we all still had afternoon tea and used the loo? If visiting California entailed leaving the country? These examples are from a time early in our history, but if we fast forward through the ages, we come to a more important question: What if our WWII soldiers did not persevere? Let’s take a look at a critical point in our history, where the role of veterans cannot be discounted.

Imagine 2015. Germany, who now in conjunction with Italy, rules the continent of Europe, has spread across the Atlantic Ocean, and claimed the eastern half of what once was America. Gone are the pre-war values of the United States. A Nazi flag flies over a school in the American Republic of Germany. Students recite the oath of allegiance in German, which is the primary language. The percentage of German Americans, which in 1940 was about 32%, is now 80%. The students now sit, and listen to the latest propaganda being broadcasted by the Leader and Chancellor. In the capital, New Berlin, lines of green clad soldiers with swastikas on their lapels practice military drills under the watchful eye of the Commander in Chief of the Nazi army, a man hand picked by Adolph Hitler.

About a thousand miles away, in what used to be the west coast of the Unites States of America, the Greater Japanese Empire now exists. Japanese is now spoken throughout the country and the primary religions are Shinto and Buddhism. Temples dot the country side, which is mainly used to provide resources for the ever-growing empire. Schools teach triumphantly of the defeat of the US forces in that fall of 1945.

In between the coasts sits the land that so often is forgotten about. The states that once occupied the middle of America, the Bread Basket of the World, are desolate, bare plains. In the aftermath of the war, the various leaders of the Axis force quickly claimed land in the Central United States, for the abundant natural resources that were located there. When it came time to divvy up the conquered territories, an agreement could not be found. Air raids and stealth attacks followed. Finally, a compromise was found, but not before the land was basically useless. The wasteland now sits as a divider between the two nations. The loss of WWII cost this region its dignity.

Fortunately, this whole scenario didn’t happen. The WWII veterans that we honor still today came through for us, saving the world from a future no one wants to imagine. Because of their bravery and sacrifice, we now enjoy many freedoms as Americans. We have made it our mission to share these freedoms with the world.

Freedom of speech, freedom of press, and the right to bear arms. All of these rights that we have as Americans are insured by our military might. Here in the US, we are able to express our feelings, defend ourselves, and vote to change the way our country is run. The checks and balances system we have ensures that we will never have power hungry officials take over. We have freedom of religion and relative equality of the sexes, attributes that make America attractive to immigrants all over the world. Our veterans have made it possible for us to live lives not tarnished by worry over war in our own home. Unfortunately, this cannot be said for all countries.

The USA has military interests in many countries, especially in the Middle East. As a country, America has taken it upon itself to defend the rights of people who are unable to defend themselves. Recent veterans, ones who have served tours in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran, have helped establish basic rights for minorities and oppressed people. Our veterans have truly made a difference in the lives of people all over the world.

The effect that our soldiers have on the world is substantial. Even though peace is the goal, our presence right now is considered necessary by leaders. As we withdraw from foreign conflicts, our veterans have a lot they can teach us, such as teamwork skills and unshakeable integrity.

It is said that we must study history in order to learn from our mistakes in the past. In the future, our veterans can advise world leaders on whether to engage in combat or not. Veterans can also pass down lessons learned during their time in the military to make the US a better place. According America’s Job Exchange, former military personnel have great integrity as well as a better understanding of teamwork and communication skills, which are both vital to success. If the older generations can provide a good example for their descendants, the world will slowly change for the better.

Our country has been shaped over the years by countless acts of selflessness and bravery performed by our veterans. In the past, they fought to keep our borders safe, now they fight in foreign countries to defend our freedoms- and to try to establish them for others-, and in the future, they will continue to provide us with defense and wisdom which we can use to keep America the Home of the Free.

Think back to that future I had you imagine. Pretty awful, right? Now think of the world we live in now. Which one would do you prefer?

My favorite 9th grader and her Cozad Haymaker teammates brought home the team trophy last night at the first Cross Country meet of the season. Ashley Grace earned the 6th place individual medal in the varsity girls race with a time of 21:22.6.

I figure that gives me bragging rights as a 6:53 minute mile average for her first 5K race is pretty awesome 🙂

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Welcome to Feedyard Foodie

A native of urban Palm Beach County, Florida; I was an Ivy League educated athlete fueled by beef for many years before I understood “where my beef came from.” Now, I am a mother of three and live with my husband in Nebraska where we run a cattle feedyard and farming operation. Feed Yard Foodie is a site where people can come to read about the real story of beef, written by someone who actually gets their hands dirty.

Behind the Scenes at my Yard, Will Feed, Inc.

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"Believing---there are several layers to it. There's the surface-level type of believing, where you acknowledge that something is true. Then there is a deeper kind of belief--the type that gets inside of you and actually changes you. It's the kind of belief that changes your behavior, your attitude, and your outlook on life, and the people around you can't help but notice."